[01/04/12 - 06:31 AM]History(R) Looks at the Greatest Adventure of All Time in Epic New Miniseries "Mankind the Story of All of Us(wt)"The 12-hour, six night television event comes from the producers of "America the Story of Us."

[via press release from History]

HISTORY(R) LOOKS AT THE GREATEST ADVENTURE OF ALL TIME IN EPIC NEW MINISERIES "MANKIND THE STORY OF ALL OF US(wt)"

FIRST WORLDWIDE SERIES PREMIERE
EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH WILL SPAN THE ENTIRE GLOBE

Expansive Follow-up to America the Story of Us
In Production with Nutopia

New York, NY, January 4, 2012 - HISTORY announces today an epic 12-hour, six night television event, MANKIND THE STORY OF ALL OF US (wt). Already two years in the making, the series is now in production and will premiere in 2012. This event will be the most in-depth television series ever produced by HISTORY. MANKIND will have the first global series premiere in the history of the network, as well as a worldwide educational initiative.

"MANKIND THE STORY OF ALL OF US has the same spirit and daring storytelling that made America the Story of Us such a phenomenal success. But this time we're going even bigger. This series will redefine history as we know it for people throughout the world - how it's told, how it's watched, taught and how it is experienced," said Nancy Dubuc, President & General Manager, HISTORY. "We are traveling to every corner of the earth in order to portray the heroic story of man and the collective story of all of us. This is a shared adventure and it is an honor and a privilege to bring this story to our viewers."

Mankind is a brutal fight for survival. The odds were against us at every turn - over 99.9% of all species of the earth have gone extinct. This series examines what is unique about us to have made humans the dominant species on the planet. This is a story of survival in harsh brutal planet - against all odds, we survived.

History is once again working with the Nutopia production team, led by their executive producers Jane Root and Ben Goold, the same team that made America the Story of Us an Emmy-winning triumph in 2010 and the most-watched special in the network's history. Filming is under way in locations all over the world, including China, South Africa and Morocco.

Says Ms. Root: "This project will redefine history- it's a completely new path to see who we are and where we came - and one that will fundamentally change how we view the world forever. We also engage the viewer by exploring the world of science and its effect on mankind."

MANKIND is the first television series in a generation to look at the history of the human race through the ages, but in a way that will be highly ambitious in the scale of its cinematic vision, with jaw dropping CGI and dramatic reconstructions of the most critical events in human history brought to life as never seen before.

In every episode, the path of Mankind's progress will be unlocked through a set of mysterious keys. From the first tools to the construction of the pyramids, to the birth of agriculture and the revolutions in military technology; and through the Vikings landing in America and discovery of new worlds, culminating in the industrial revolution and the making of the modern world. This is the story of the moments that changed history forever and made us who we are today.

Further, by integrating the different sciences, MANKIND will set the standard for "Big History" and how it will be experienced. Through geology, astronomy, meteorology, and physics, the series delves into the forces of nature, exploring human's ability to harness these immense natural powers through engineering, science and innovation to assure their survival. Remarkably, Mankind's path is guided by events that stretch back, not hundreds, but thousands, even millions of years.

Supporting this project will be an ambitious educational initiative as well as companion programming on History's new spin-off network, H2.

MANKIND THE STORY OF ALL OF US(wt) will follow humans' remarkable ascent, charting how passion, vision and an adventurous spirit enabled us to develop tools and understanding to leave behind his primal constraints. MANKIND THE STORY OF ALL OF US(wt) also will go far outside the traditional boundaries of history to pinpoint the pivotal hidden keys and unexpected game changers that led to the greatest achievements in technology, travel, engineering and ideas.

MANKIND THE STORY OF ALL OF US(wt) is produced for HISTORY by Nutopia. Jane Root and Ben Goold are Executive Producers. For HISTORY, Julian P. Hobbs and Paul Cabana are Executive Producers.

About HISTORY(R)

HISTORY(R) and HISTORY(R) HD are the leading destinations for revealing, award-winning original non-fiction series and event specials that connect history with viewers in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. Programming covers a diverse variety of historical genres ranging from military history to contemporary history, technology to natural history, as well as science, archaeology and pop culture. Among the network's program offerings are hit series such as American Pickers, Ax Men, American Restoration, Ice Road Truckers, Top Gear, Pawn Stars and Top Shot, as well as acclaimed specials including Vietnam in HD, Gettysburg, America the Story of Us, WWII in HD, 102 Minutes That Changed America. HISTORY has earned four Peabody Awards, eleven Primetime Emmy(R) Awards, 12 News & Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History(R) campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. Take a Veteran to School Day is the network's signature initiative connecting America's schools and communities with veterans from all wars. The HISTORY website, located at www.history.com, is the leading online resource for all things history, featuring over 20,000 videos, images, audio clips, articles and interactive features that allow visitors to dig deeper into a broad range of thousands of historical topics.

About Nutopia

Nutopia is the mold-breaking documentary and reality production company founded by Jane Root, former BBC2 Controller and President of Discovery Channel US, Laura Franses, Michael Jackson and Sir Peter Bazalgette. With offices in both the United States and the United Kingdom, Nutopia has created, among other programs, the ground breaking 'mega-doc' including the 12 hour "America Story of Us," the most-watched special ever on History in the U.S